Lenore almost had everything she wanted.
In just a few short months, she'd graduate early from high school, start an internship at her father's new startup in San Francisco, and then head off to college in the fall on a full scholarship. Everything...
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The rain lashed at the bedroom window worse than ever. Lenore didn't understand what the hell was going on with this increasingly weird weather. This corner of the country wasn't usually prone to these kinds of storms. Tornados usually struck where the land flattened out, not in the foothills. She'd overheard the news calling it 'the storm of the decade, if not the century.'
Despite the downpour, the police were still out in full force. Lenore could hardly see through her rain-lashed windows, but she could see their wobbling flashing as they went in and out of the woods at the edge of her yard. Regardless of what they thought of her and her family, she was thankful they were braving the weather in their search for Victor.
If Victor was out there in this weather, he had to be at risk of hypothermia. Or worse...
She shuddered and tightened her arms around herself, gripping at the sleeves of her sweater. Even though she was safe inside, all bundled up, she shivered, like the ice-cold rain was dripping down her back.
They had to find Victor. They had to.
If they didn't...
Her lip trembled, and she buried her teeth into it to keep it still.
She couldn't let herself give in to the threat of tears.
Not when she still had hope.
She did her best to focus on positive thoughts. When she imagined where Victor had gone, she tried to picture scenarios where he'd found shelter in the storm.
Maybe had stumbled and twisted his ankle, losing his phone in the fall. Maybe he had tried to crawl his way out, but when it started getting dark, he had to find shelter. Maybe he had hidden away in the mausoleum where they had first met while he waited for help to come...
If that was the case, then help was close. Her mother had kept her word to let the cops search their half of the woods, and they were now crawling through them, searching every nook and cranny. But as she thought of the mausoleum, she wondered if they'd thought to check inside. She wondered if she should go out into the rain to tell the police officers about it, just in case—
She was halfway out of the chair when there was a knock at her door. She turned in time to see her mother's face appear in the open crack.
"Oh," her mother said, her eyes widening at the sight of her daughter. "You're up. You've been so quiet, I thought you might've finally fallen asleep."
Lenore just stared back at her mother. "Obviously not."
Her mother cleared her throat and looked away, at a loss. It was like Lenore had interrupted her plans or something. When she looked back at her daughter, her features had softened, but there was something hard and distant in her eyes.
"How are you holding up?"
How do you think? Lenore wanted to snap back, but she held her tongue. She didn't have the strength to get into a petty fight with her mother. There were more important things to worry about.
